She turned travel stress into a successful rental business

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

Vaishali Malde looked forward to having children until she had to pack for a family trip.

“I work in the packaging industry where I’ve spent years traveling a lot for work,” she says. “Becoming a mother didn’t stop the travel, but it completely changed how I do it. Suddenly, every trip meant half of my suitcase was filled with baby diapers, and I was constantly worrying about baggage limits and how much extra equipment I needed to carry.”

But despite the challenge, Vaishali, her husband and their first-born son still managed. It was during her second pregnancy that the reality of travelling as a family of four truly set in.

“We were planning a trip to my parents’ home in Webuye after the baby was born, and one night we started making a list of everything we needed to pack,” she recalls.

“That’s when we realised we needed two of everything: two strollers, two car seats, and two suitcases packed with diapers of different sizes. But it wasn’t just the sheer volume of luggage that we found overwhelming. Baby gear is expensive. The thought of buying more equipment was stressing us out.”

Rather than spend a fortune and haul everything from Nairobi, the couple wondered whether they could simply rent some of the equipment once they arrived in Webuye, but no such service existed.

“We started thinking about all the people travelling to Kenya,” Vaishali says. “We have so many friends and family who visit and end up borrowing baby equipment for a few weeks. We thought, if we are facing this challenge, surely other families are, too. Maybe there is a business here.”

And that is how Little Journeys Co came to life. Launched in November 2025, just a week before the birth of the couple’s second son, the company rents baby gear to families travelling within or into Kenya.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” says Vaishali. “We just built a website overnight and dove in. But because we launched just before the December holidays, which is a peak travel season, enquiries started coming in much faster than we’d anticipated.”

With growing demand and customers asking for more than the business initially offered, Little Journeys Co quickly expanded its inventory.

“When we started, we only had car seats, high chairs, and baby cots,” she says. “But then we started receiving enquiries for things we didn’t have, like bottle sterilisers, bottle warmers, formula mixers, and dispensers, so we added them to our catalogue.”

Today, the rental company offers more than 30 items, including play essentials such as toys and books, and caters to children from newborns to 12-year-olds.

Although the business operates entirely online, it occasionally hosts pop-ups and exhibitions where parents can inspect the equipment firsthand and learn more about the company’s quality and safety standards.

“When our customers find us online, we first ask what they need, the nature of their trip, the age of their child and how long they’ll need the equipment for,” Vaishali says. “From there, we recommend the most suitable products before delivering them to their home, hotel or Airbnb. Once they’re done with their trip, they can either return the items to us or we collect them.”

Before being rented out again, every item undergoes a thorough cleaning, sanitisation and safety inspection. Hard plastic equipment is steam-cleaned and thoroughly scrubbed using non-toxic cleaning products before being sterilised under ultraviolet (UV) light and sealed in protective, plastic packaging.

Cushioned items such as car seats, mattresses, and travel cots undergo steam cleaning, drying, and UV sterilisation to eliminate dust mites, mould spores, and any other contaminants that may accumulate during use.

“Before sending anything out, I always ask myself, ‘Is this clean enough for my child to use?’ If the answer is no, then we continue cleaning until it meets our standard,” the mother-of-two says.

But maintaining high-quality standards is not just about how the equipment is cleaned. According to Vaishali, it begins at the point of purchase.

“Everybody wants equipment they can rely on, so when we are adding to our inventory, we go for trusted brands even though they are quite expensive,” she says. “If something is not safe, comfortable and durable, it doesn’t work for us either because the business relies on our ability to provide the same set of gear multiple times.”

Repairing rather than replacing has also become a key part of the company's business model, helping Little Journeys Co maximise the lifespan of its inventory while keeping unnecessary waste to a minimum.

“We only replace items when they are damaged beyond repair,” she says.

Although Little Journeys takes a refundable security deposit on all rentals to cover damages, when the structural damage is beyond repair, customers are required to cover the replacement cost.

Not surprisingly, building and running the business has required far more capital than Vaishali initially anticipated.

“I started off thinking I would need around Sh1 million,” she says. “But every small cost adds up. Purchasing the equipment is expensive, then there are ongoing maintenance, storage and cleaning costs, regular inspections, and the costs of replacing worn-out parts, some of which have to be shipped in.”

To keep those costs in check, has adopted a demand-driven approach to expanding its catalogue. Instead of stocking hundreds of products, they add equipment only when customers ask for it.

“Our first inventory was made up of equipment my eldest son had outgrown,” Vaishali says. “Then, based on the enquiries, we added what people need. There’s no point in purchasing equipment if you don’t know when it will be rented out.”

Rental prices vary depending on the product and duration, with longer bookings attracting lower weekly rates. For instance, a car seat rents for about Sh3,200 a week, and Sh8,000 for a month, while a baby cot costs around Sh5,000 per week or Sh12,000 for a month.

“Our pricing is designed to offer flexibility,” she says. “Some families only need an item for a day, while others rent it for several months. The longer the rental period, the more affordable it becomes.”

Although there is no maximum rental period, most customers keep the equipment for between two and three weeks, which is the typical length of family holidays, visits and short-term stays.

While the business was initially designed with travelling families in mind, its customer base has grown far beyond that. Today, around 70 percent of its clients are local families, including Kenyans travelling within the country and households hosting relatives with young children from abroad.

The remaining 30 percent comprises expatriates and international tourists visiting Kenya for holidays, work assignments or extended stays.

“We’re also seeing a huge demand from grandparents who are hosting their grandchildren,” she adds. “They are preparing their homes to make the children’s visit as smooth and comfortable as possible.”

One customer that still stands out to Vaishali was a great-grandmother preparing to welcome her great-granddaughter from the UK for the first time. She rented everything from a baby cot and toys to child-proofing equipment so the infant would feel at home.

“I can’t tell you how happy the mother was to arrive into this house that was ready for her child,” Vaishali says.

With most journeys starting from Nairobi before proceeding to destinations such as Maasai Mara, Nanyuki, or Diani, Vaishali says the capital city makes for their busiest market. Demand typically peaks during Kenyan school holidays and during the Northern Hemisphere summer (June-August), when diaspora families and international visitors arrive in larger numbers.

“In slow seasons, we can have as low as one booking in a month, but in busier seasons we have over ten bookings, with each booking taking about three or four items.”

Growing the business has also meant overcoming several hurdles, particularly around building customer trust.

“A lot of the people we are serving are either people who haven’t interacted with us before or people who are travelling from abroad,” Vaishali says. “Most of them naturally want to know whether the items are clean, safe, and whether they will actually be waiting for them when they arrive.”

To build confidence, the company shares videos showing how each item is cleaned and sanitised before delivery, while customer reviews and word-of-mouth referrals have become some of its most effective marketing tools.

As awareness of the business grows, Little Journeys Co. is also beginning to forge relationships across the tourism and hospitality sector. The company works with tour operators requiring child car seats for safaris and has supplied baby cots and high chairs to Airbnbs hosting young families.

While most of these arrangements are made on a need basis rather than through formal contracts, Vaishali hopes they will eventually evolve into stronger, long-term partnerships with key industry players, including hotels.

“Having children shouldn’t stop families from travelling or exploring Kenya,” she closes. “Our mission isn’t just to rent baby equipment, it’s to remove one of the biggest stresses parents face when they travel.”

Reporting originally appeared via Business Daily. Read the full source for additional context.